30 things learned in 30 years of cycling – No. 1

You have to own it, not bemoan it !

How many times have we all done it, made an excuse for a poor performance and blamed anything and everything other than ourselves. The list could be any of the following :

• If only I hadn’t punctured
• If only my teammates hadn’t chased me
• If only it hadn’t rained
• If only it wasn’t so hot
• If only they didn’t put such a dangerous bend/ difficult hill on the route
• If only they started the race earlier
• If only they started later
• If only the surface wasn’t so bad
• If only the other riders knew how to ride their bikes
• If only, if only, if only.

If cycling has thought me anything it is that the only thing to blame if anything does not go to plan is myself.

If anything goes wrong with my bike 99.9% of the time it is because I did not maintain it correctly.

If someone chased and caught me in a race it is because my tactics were poor or I had not trained enough.

If the rain or heat stop me from performing then I did not train enough in those conditions or I over thought the conditions or did not plan properly for them beforehand. Someone always wins every race. That someone has to deal with the very same conditions. Don’t focus on the opposition unless it is to learn from them. Don’t give them that power over you.

The very first rule when it comes to improving anything about yourself whether it be on or off the bike is to take responsibility for it and to take ownership of it. If anything, and I mean anything does not go to plan then the ONLY way to make sure that it does not happen again is to take all of the responsibility on your very own shoulders and make sure that you do everything that you can to fix it for the next time. If you do this, then win or loose you can walk away from the next race with your head held high.

Barry

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